Use the programs Financial Reports Setup menu to set up and display your own financial reports, such as balance sheet, profit and loss, and so on.
Spend some time reviewing the various standard report formats that are available. You can view existing formats in Report Format F/M.
Report formats define these parameters for the different types of reports:
Set up a layout of each report in Financial Report Setup using your chart of accounts. For example, the layout of the P&L usually prints gross sales, subtracts cost of sales to get net sales and then all expenses are added up and subtracted from net sales to get the net profit or loss. You must set up each line of the report so that it indicates which GL account number needs to be in each section, where captions and totals should be, when to print memos, which operations to perform on what lines, etc.
To help you set up and modify reports, use Report Setup Layout to print a layout of the report showing what accounts have been used, where totals are, and so on.
You can duplicate report formats by using the Duplicate Report Setup program. This saves time when you need to set up two reports that only differ on a few minor differences.
Once reports are set up, you can also set up the reports to print for various companies, branches and/or departments in Report Group F/M. For example, report groups can be set up to print reports for one or multiple companies, selected branches for one or multiple companies, selected departments for one or multiple companies, or selected branches and departments for one or multiple companies. Report groups can also indicate whether to consolidate the selected companies, branches and/or departments. (Note: Companies on consolidated financial reports must use the same fiscal year.)
Use Report Figures F/M to display the records in the report figures file. While printing reports, if totals are to be stored (in order to be recalled for a calculation/comparison on another report, i.e., storing the net profit or loss from the P&L to print later on the balance sheet) the figures are maintained in the report figures file.
Financial reports are usually printed at the end of a period, and as a result the program to print the financial reports is on the End-of-Period menu.